SIPLACE Press News
Munich, December 18 2012
Solid Semecs extends its capabilities with SIPLACE SX
New approach delivers speed paired with flexibility and quality
For almost 20 years, Solid Semecs GmbH, a well-known electronics
manufacturer with headquarters in the Netherlands, has operated a production
facility in Vrable, Slovakia. During this period, the electronics market in Eastern
Europe underwent massive changes as well as a steady increase in customer
expectations. This was one of the reasons why Semecs decided to run its
production with flexible and modular SIPLACE placement machines to this day.
For the company's new plant in Vrabe, Slovakia, management decided right away
to invest in a line consisting of two SIPLACE SX machines, each equipped with a
SIPLACE MultiStar placement head. The underlying motive: Semecs must be
able to produce orders of all types and from all industries with exceptional
flexibility. "With our new line we prove that many assessments of the region in
which we produce are no longer valid," says Ivan Kukucka, who is in charge of
the Vrable plant. "With state-of-the-art equipment like our new SIPLACE SX
placement machines we are redefining the limits of the kind of electronics
production that operates at extremely high speed, yet is flexible and churns out
top quality."
With service and sales offices all over Europe, production and technology sites in
Vrable, Slovakia and Uden, Netherlands and over 25 years of experience, Solid
Semecs GmbH focuses on customers and projects from the areas in automotive
technology, medical technology, photovoltaics and industrial technology. From
receiving the order to the fully packaged and ready-to-ship product, the EMS provider
takes on average two weeks. When unforeseen changes or new customer requests
arrive, Semecs's production facilities are able to respond in only a few hours, because
absolute flexibility is one of the company's overarching principles. "We are not a classic
high-mix or high-volume producer. Our orders are highly diverse, and our customers
Page 1 of 5
come from many different industries," explains Kukucka. "Our production must be
equipped to meet all customer demands without difficulty. Our challenge is to make
everything possible."
SIPLACE SX: Reliability above all
Semecs recently opened new branches in Scotland and Denmark, but the company's
production plant in Slovakia has been in operation already since 1996. And since the
order volume has seen steady increases and the jobs are becoming ever more
complex and demanding, Solid Semecs decided in 2011 to build an entirely new plant.
While the existing equipment was moved from the old to the new location in the
summer of 2012, a newly purchased line with two SIPLACE SX2 machines went into
operation in the new plant, handling many of the high-priority orders. The plant
operated in three shifts, seven days a week, to remain 100 percent on schedule
regarding customer delivery and quality during the relocation. "We are very pleased
with our new SIPLACE line. The SIPLACE SX machines are extremely reliable, and
thanks to the SIPLACE software and the MultiStar placement heads we were able to
run a wide range of products on a single line," says Kukucka.
Maximum product diversity with SIPLACE software
With its software package of SIPLACE Random Setup and SIPLACE Split Table Mode,
Solid Semecs is able to achieve a high level of product diversity on the new SIPLACE
SX machines while keeping the setup effort to a minimum. With Random Setup,
component feeders can be installed anywhere there is space, because they
automatically register themselves on the machine along with the component they
contain. And SIPLACE Split Table Mode, along with the SIPLACE MultiStar heads on
the two machines, makes it possible to switch from one product to the next one without
having to stop the line. The heads can place most component types with the need for
a head change, because they are able to seamlessly switch between three different
placement modes: collect-and-place, pick-and-place, and a special mixed mode.
SIPLACE Press Office
Susanne Oswald
Rupert-Mayer-Strasse 44, D-81350 Munich, Germany
Tel.: +49 89 20800-26439; Fax: -24260
E-mail: susanne.oswald@asmpt.com
Internet: www.siplace.com
Page 2 of 5
Solid Semecs GmbH has grown at double-digit rates in recent years, and the forecasts
for the future provide cause for optimism as well. "A few years ago, customers were still
skeptical whether Eastern European plants are able to produce not only in high
volumes, but also with high quality and a great degree of complexity. With our new
plant and with our new SIPLACE equipment we can correct these obsolete attitudes.
For example, we are now easily able to meet the very strict quality guidelines of the
automotive industry with our entirely new facility production floor and recently
integrated processes", assures Kukucka.
Solid Semecs also intends to expand its capacities in the LED field in the future. The
company has already developed drivers for new LED tubes – tubes which are already
used to illuminate the entire new plant. And the next project is in the works as well:
Semecs wants to add a second SMT line as soon as possible; of course it will consist
of SIPLACE SX machines.
The SIPLACE SX2 machines in the Semecs plant are equipped with a comprehensive software package
and SIPLACE MultiStar placement heads.
SIPLACE Press Office
Susanne Oswald
Rupert-Mayer-Strasse 44, D-81350 Munich, Germany
Tel.: +49 89 20800-26439; Fax: -24260
E-mail: susanne.oswald@asmpt.com
Internet: www.siplace.com
Page 3 of 5
For more Information, visit www.siplace.com.
SIPLACE Press Office
Susanne Oswald
Rupert-Mayer-Strasse 44, D-81350 Munich, Germany
Tel.: +49 89 20800-26439; Fax: -24260
E-mail: susanne.oswald@asmpt.com
Internet: www.siplace.com
Page 4 of 5
ASM Assembly Systems
At the beginning of 2011, the SIPLACE team (formerly Siemens Electronics Assembly Systems)
became a business unit of ASM Pacific Technology and operates now as ASM Assembly
Systems. With its SIPLACE machines and innovative manufacturing concepts, ASM Assembly
Systems GmbH & Co. KG is the world’s leading manufacturer of surface mount technology
(SMT) placement machines and solutions. Since its beginnings in 1985, the company has
installed almost 35,000 placement machines at over 3,500 customers all over the world.
Electronics manufacturers in all industries such as telecommunications, automotive, IT,
consumer electronics and automation use and depend on SIPLACE’s broad portfolio of
solutions and services.
For more information about ASM Assembly Systems (SIPLACE), visit www.siplace.com.
ASM Pacific Technology
As a subsidiary of ASM International, which has its headquarters in Almere, Netherlands, ASM
Pacific Technology (ASMPT), Singapore, has developed in only a few years into the world’s
leading supplier of chip assembly, bonding and packaging systems and solutions. The ASMPT
Group produces and markets machines for front-end and back-end chip assembly and
semiconductor packaging. The company has plants in Hong Kong, China, Singapore and
Malaysia, and since January 1, 2011 in Germany. ASMPT has been listed on the Hong Kong
Stock Exchange since 1989.
ASMPT is one of the stocks in the Hang Seng HK MidCap Index under the Hang Seng
Composite Index, the Hang Seng Information Technology Industry Index, and the Hang Seng
Hong Kong 35 Index.
For more information about ASMPT, visit www.asmpacific.com
Please send reader inquiries to:
ASM Assembly Systems GmbH & Co. KG
Susanne Oswald
E-mail: susanne.oswald@asmpt.com
SIPLACE Press Office
Susanne Oswald
Rupert-Mayer-Strasse 44, D-81350 Munich, Germany
Tel.: +49 89 20800-26439; Fax: -24260
E-mail: susanne.oswald@asmpt.com
Internet: www.siplace.com
Page 5 of 5